All Oak Hills High School students electing to enroll in an Art and Design Department course will develop an Appreciation of the Arts, Creative Thinking and Problem Solving Skills, Interdisciplinary Connections, Social and Global Awareness, and Career Preparation related to Visual Communication.

Murals

2010 50TH ANNIVERSARY MURAL
Visual Arts Educator: Jamie Schorsch

For stylistic and technical inspiration- the classes studied the works of Kara Walker and Shepherd Fairey. Kara Walker’s silhouette style of representation provided inspiration for the rendering of symbols in the mural, whereas Shepherd Fairey’s techniques of image creation and layering fueled the overall layout of the final piece. Both artists compel the viewer to think about the role that history and past events play in our lives as well as the images that we consume that make up our persona, thus prompting people to bring own interpretations to artwork- with the intent of sparking discussion.

Students were given general guidelines from which to start designing the mural. The mural had to be representational of the history of OHHS to commemorate the 50th anniversary, as well as address some of the opportunities that an education at OHHS can provide its students. Symbolism such as the farm land that the high school was built upon, school mascots from past to present, icons of high school activities, and Caledonians (the school yearbook) from the past 50 years, were used as a part of the image generation. The resulting image is meant to inspire a sense of hope and achievement for all students walking the hallways of OHHS.